WRITTEN QUESTION P-1017/02 by Francesco Speroni (NI) to the Commission. Restrictions on the use of cheques made out in euro.
Date: 2002-04-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: bank charges, cheque, euro, free movement of capital, international payment

14.11.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 277 E/129

In accordance with Annex I of the Framework Directive, this Recommendation will include the markets for
‘call termination on public mobile telephone networks’ and ‘wholesale national market for international
roaming on public mobile networks’.

As soon as possible after the adoption of the Recommendation, national regulatory authorities in the
Member States must carry out an analysis of the markets identified in the Recommendation, to decide
whether there is effective competition. Where competition is not effective, national regulatory authorities
impose or maintain obligations (such as transparency, non-discrimination, cost orientation) on under-
takings deemed to have significant market power, as specified in the Directives.

The draft Recommendation will be subject to a public consultation, to start once the Directives have been
formally published in the Official Journal. The Parliament will be kept informed. It is expected that the
Recommendation will be adopted by the Commission in June 2002.

In a separate action, the Commission has sent to the Dutch telecommunications operator (Netherlands
Telephone Company KPN NV) a statement of objections alleging that KPN, through its subsidiaries KPN
Mobile (mobile traffic) and KPN Telecom (fixed traffic), has violated the competition rules of the EC
Treaty (2).

The Commission has also launched a sector inquiry into Mobile roaming charges. It can be expected that
the action on mobile termination charges will have an impact on mobile roaming charges, as the former
are a substantial part of the cost of international roaming.

(1) OJ L 108, 24.4.2002.
(2) See Press Release IP/02/483, dated 27 March 2002;

http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guestfr.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/02/483|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display=.

(2002/C 277 E/147)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1017/02

by Francesco Speroni (NI) to the Commission

Subject: Restrictions on the use of cheques made out in euro

(5 April 2002)

As was pointed out in Question H-0087/02 (1), some businesses such as the ACCOR chain in France
explicitly refuse to accept cheques made out in euro drawn on banks in other countries, even if they are
part of ‘Euroland’.

This is the case regardless of the amount, whether or not the customer is known or the type of cheque, the
only criterion being the location of the bank on which the cheque is drawn, which means that a customer
whose cheque is refused if it is drawn on a non-French bank can have a cheque of the same kind and for
the same amount accepted, provided that it is drawn on a bank located in France. It is therefore not a
question of preferring cash or other forms of payment, whether the customer is known or not or a
minimum or maximum amount, but solely a question of territorial discrimination.

Is this practice compatible with the rules on the free movement of capital and the rest of the Union’s
legislation?

(1) Written answer of 12.3.2002.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(11 June 2002)

The only payments by cheque accepted by a commercial undertaking in France are cheques drawn on
banks located in France, and cheques drawn on foreign banks are refused. The Honourable Member asks
whether such a practice is compatible with the EC Treaty, given that all these cheques are in euros.

C 277 E/130

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.11.2002

In the context of payments it is important to make a distinction between strictly national transactions and
those which have a cross-border dimension. A payment using a national cheque for € 100 within France
entails virtually no charges. A cross-border payment in euros of the same amount would incur charges of
over € 25. The beneficiary is in serious danger of receiving less than € 75 in payment. There are
consequently sound economic reasons for refusing such cheques.

These cheques are refused because simply they are cross-border cheques. Under the legal tender principle a
trader is never obliged to accept a cheque payment, but he cannot refuse a payment in cash. It is therefore
legally possible for a trader to decide to accept only certain categories of cheque.

The question then arises as to whether such behaviour should be judged in accordance with the EC Treaty
rules on the free movement of capital (Article 56(1)) or payments between Member States (Article 56(2)).
These rules apply only to the Member States. The case in point relates to a commercial decision by a
private company. It does not therefore seem to be governed by the above rules of the EC Treaty.

This being said, the Commission nevertheless takes the view that this difference in price between national
payments and cross-border payments is unacceptable for the smooth operation of the internal market. In
July 2001, it therefore proposed a Regulation introducing the principle of non-discrimination in charges
between national payments and cross-border payments. This Regulation was adopted on 19 December
2001 (1). The Commission originally proposed that the principle of equality of charges should also apply to
cross-border payments by cheque. Parliament and the Council decided not to follow the Commission’s
suggestion on that point.

The two main arguments were:

I Cheques are disappearing as a form of national payment in several Union Member States;

I Cheques cannot be used as a mechanised means of cross-border payment. This is explained in the

eighth recital of the Regulation, which states:

At present, it is not advisable to apply the principle of uniform charges for paper cheques as by
nature they cannot be processed as efficiently as the other means of payment,
in particular
electronic payments. However, the principle of transparent charges should also apply to cheques.

The principle of the harmonisation of charges set out in Article 3 does not therefore apply to cheques
(cf. answer to Question 3681/01 Banotti).

(1) Regulation No 2560/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2001 on cross-border

payments in euro, OJ L 344, 28.12.2001.

(2002/C 277 E/148)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1018/02

by Philip Bradbourn (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 April 2002)

Subject: Water quality assessment

to the assessment of water quality taken as part of

Further
supervision of
implementation of the urban waste water treatment directive, does the Commission know what specific
parts of the West Midlands are most affected by poor water quality and what measures should be taken to
rectify problems in these areas?

the Commission’s